Chapter 18: Heavenly Melody, Apologies for My Poor Performance

To his surprise, it was the weekend, and the private rooms were actually full today!

The shrewd, plump boss said that a few rooms were only booked until 3:30 PM, and after that, they would definitely be available. Afraid of losing business, he smiled and said, "You can start singing in the main hall first, and we won't charge you. When the rooms are free, we'll only charge half the room fee. How about it, everyone?" After a brief discussion, Li Yi and his friends thought it was a good deal and agreed.

Actually, no one was in the main hall, so it was like a large private room for Li Yi and his friends.

The few girls were all KTV experts and quickly selected their songs, starting to sing. Li Yi flipped through the song list, feeling a bit speechless. He was really tired of these old songs.

"Li Yi, you three, hurry up and pick your songs. Everyone must sing tonight, no exceptions!" Sun Wei shouted loudly.

Zhu Feng and Bi Zhengguang exchanged a wry smile. These two were not very good at singing. Thinking that they were all classmates, there was no need to worry about embarrassing themselves, they each picked a song. Zhu Feng chose "Childhood," and Bi Zhengguang chose "Penghu Bay of Grandma." Both songs were classics and easy to sing, so even if they were off-key, it wouldn't be too bad.

Sun Wei looked at Li Yi, "What about you, Li Yi?"

Li Yi said indifferently, "I'm picky, let me look a bit more."

Sun Wei thought about it; with so many people to sing, there was no rush, so she nodded, "Hurry up, though."

Li Yi really couldn't find any good songs. The KTV's lighting was very dim, making his eyes feel a bit sore. He put down the song list, got up, and walked to the window. He reached into his pocket but didn't find any cigarettes. He suddenly realized that students don't carry cigarettes. It seemed he still hadn't fully adapted to his new identity as a reborn person.

At this moment, one of the two boys who came with Sun Wei walked over, took out a cigarette, and tossed one to Li Yi, "The cigarettes aren't great, but make do with them."

Li Yi looked at him in surprise.

"Call me Jiang Yulin," Jiang Yulin said, leaning over to light Li Yi's cigarette with a lighter, and then lit his own.

"Li Yi," Li Yi didn't hesitate, taking a comfortable puff.

"I know," Jiang Yulin smiled, "Yao Lin has mentioned you a lot. Oh, I'm not really close to him; I'm Sun Wei's fellow townsman."

Li Yi grunted.

At this moment, another group of people came up the stairs. Seeing those three people, Li Yi's heart suddenly raced.

It was Liu Ruosi, whom he had seen at the dance hall, along with her dance partner—the man with the gold necklace—and his bodyguard.

They negotiated with the boss for a while and looked over at the main hall. The man with the gold necklace reluctantly nodded, apparently getting the same treatment as Li Yi and his friends.

The three of them walked over, and Li Yi heard the man with the gold necklace speaking in a Cantonese accent, venting his dissatisfaction, "What a lousy place, no decent KTVs. I said we should go to the city center, but you insisted on not going!"

"Mr. Jin, we agreed that I would only dance with you, not sing," Liu Ruosi said timidly.

The man with the gold necklace glared at her fiercely.

The bodyguard-like man said, "Hey, you girl, why are you so unreasonable? Singing a song and having fun won't hurt you. After you graduate, you'll still work at Jin's company, right? You'll be together every day. If you don't make Mr. Jin happy, how will he pay for your father's medical expenses? That's 50,000 yuan!"

Liu Ruosi frowned, not daring to say anything more.

"Good cabbages are all eaten by pigs," Jiang Yulin slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

Li Yi understood. No wonder Liu Ruosi didn't have much success later on; she must have been ruined by this Mr. Jin. It was easy to imagine that Mr. Jin was probably the boss of some entertainment company in eastern Guangdong, who came to the provincial art institute to select talent. He had chosen Liu Ruosi and lured her to his company by offering to help with her father's medical expenses.

In such small companies, artists have no chance of success unless they are exploited by the boss. Once exploited, they are bound to the company. To have a big breakthrough, they would need to pay an exorbitant breach of contract fee. Even then, they would still be threatened because the company's methods are ruthless. They would film the process of exploitation and use it as leverage if the artist didn't comply. In her previous life, Liu Ruosi might have refused to be exploited, which is why she never became a big star.

Sigh! No wonder. Li Yi sighed softly.

What could he change? Everyone has the right to choose their own life.

Sun Wei called from the other side, "Li Yi, come over, it's your turn."

Li Yi and Jiang Yulin walked over. Guo Xiaoling glanced at the cigarette in Li Yi's hand but said nothing, while Sun Wei exclaimed, "Jiang Yulin, don't corrupt Li Yi. He's a very pure and good student."

Jiang Yulin looked innocent, "His mouth is his own; can I stop him?"

Li Yi smiled and extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the table.

Li Yi smiled, "The song I want to sing isn't here. How about I sing it a cappella?"

Sun Wei pouted, "What song? So obscure? Can you even sing it?"

Li Yi touched his chin, "Let's try." He picked up the microphone, cleared his throat, and began to sing softly.

He sang "Blue and White Porcelain," a classic by the King of Mandopop, which was well-known in the future.

Even without music, it didn't affect the audience's appreciation. Li Yi's singing was quite good, and his diction was clear. When the song ended, the main hall was silent for a moment. Li Yi looked at Liu Ruosi, who was staring at him in amazement, her eyes wide and dreamy.

After a long pause, a round of enthusiastic applause broke out.

Sun Wei screamed, "Li Yi, what song was that? It was so beautiful!"

Li Yi smiled, "Just singing for fun. Apologies for my poor performance."

Zhu Feng punched Li Yi hard, "I didn't expect that from you, you sly fox. Why didn't you perform at all those cultural evenings before? If you had, our class would have definitely won first place!"

Everyone laughed at this.

"Little friend, the song you just sang was quite good. Are you interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry?"

Mr. Jin had stood next to Li Yi at some point, looking at him with a smile. His thick gold necklace gleamed in the light.

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

Mr. Jin was taken aback by his immediate refusal. After a moment, he asked, "What was the name of the song you just sang?"

"None of your business!"

"You! How can you be so rude!"

Mr. Jin stormed off in a huff.

"Hello, I'm Liu Ruosi, nice to meet you." A fresh scent of soap wafted into Li Yi's nose. He suddenly looked up, surprised and at a loss.